1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for analyzing biological fluid samples and storing related data. More particularly, this invention relates to the use of symmetrical-type data bases for storing and retrieving blood sample test results.
2. Previous Art
The recognition of the fact has caused blood analysis to become increasingly sophisticated. Typically, the blood analyzer system is computerized increasing the number of operations that can be performed, the number of patients that can be served as well as increasing the level of sophistication of the test themselves.
Typically, the computerized system includes an clinical analyzer unit (AU), and a computer unit (CU). The computer unit (CU) tells the analyzer unit (AU) what test are to be performed and on what samples. The AU performs the test accordingly and feeds back the data to the CU. Typically, the CU stores the data for later retrieval. There are many clinical analyzer units on the market which are capable of analyzing blood in the manner discussed above.
Blood, is a general term which includes blood serum and other separable components. AU's are often used to analyze the various blood components including blood serum. The composition of the various components is analyzed and used to evaluate a patient's health. In particular, it is often desirable to test for various elements, minerals and other matter to facilitate diagnosis and treatment of a patient's condition.
Over a period of a year, thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of tests are performed on blood samples by a single CU. The results of these tests are stored by the CU after the testing is completed. These test results need to be sorted and searched using various search criteria. Sorted results, among other things, assist medical researchers and physicians in identifying particularized medical trends for a patient, for a group of patients, for a particular day, or for a geographical area and the like.
Data is a generic term used to described items, such as test results such as those treated by the AU, which are stored in a database. The test results as noted above are stored in the CU. Typically, the test results are stored in a single database.
One problem with a single database is that, over time, stored data may be too unwieldy to effectively search, sort and backup. To minimize problems associated with unwieldy databases, the use of multiple data bases have been proposed. Multiple data bases may be used to backup data and to assist in organization of the data. Each of these data bases are searched separately, yielding separate data for each database.
As the number of records has increased, there has developed a need to off load data from the everyday computer unit's memory, sometimes known as a working database. When the working database is full of data, such as the results, the functioning of the CU is slowed down considerably. The slowness of the CU can cause delay for doctors, or other health professionals, in getting results and delay in assisting the patients.
For these reasons, among others, some of the test results stored on the CU are achieved on other data bases. Typically, these archived data bases may not even be stored on the CU. The archived database may likely be on an entirely separate computer. In any case, the archive data is typically stored in a relatively inaccessible fashion. Thus, if one wants to retrieve the archived data, it is relatively difficult and time consuming. Additionally the format of the data will likely be very different from the originally stored material.
Even when the CU achieves an acceptable degree of retrieval speed, separate viewing platforms may be necessary to view, edit and otherwise use the data. Because each separate database may rely on a different viewing platform, a compatible, yet separate viewing platform may be necessary for data accessed from the multiple data bases. Utilizing separate viewing platforms for the test results is inconvenient, especially for those who do not have time to sufficiently study and learn the capabilities of the separate viewing platforms. What is desired is a simple and effective way of accessing large numbers of data records.